The following disclosure relates to energy management, and more particularly to a premises energy management system for the management of household consumer appliances, as well as other energy consuming devices and/or systems found in the home. The present disclosure finds particular application to the use of a Home Energy Gateway (HEG) for storing data entries in a time-stamp oriented database.
Current utility companies charge a flat rate for energy usage, but with the increasing cost of fuel prices and high energy usage during certain parts of the day, utility companies have to buy more energy to supply customers during peak demand. Consequently, utility companies are beginning to charge higher rates during peak demand. If peak demand can be lowered, then a potential cost savings can be achieved and the peak load that the utility company has to accommodate is lessened.
Home Energy Management (HEM) systems have been introduced as a way to reduce energy consumption in homes and buildings. One HEM is in the form of a special custom configured computer with an integrated display, which communicates to devices in the home and stores data, and also has simple algorithms to enable energy reduction. This type of device may include a keypad for data entry or the display may be touch screen. This device is either integrated in a unitary housing, or if the display is not in the same housing, the display and computer are otherwise connected/associated to work as a single unit. A second HEM system is in the form of a low cost router/gateway device in a home that collects information from devices within the home and sends it to a remote server and in return receives control commands from the remote server and transmits the commands to energy consuming devices in the home. As with the first type of HEM, this second form of HEM may be custom configured including a computer and integrated or otherwise connected/associated display (and keypad if used) designated as a single unit. Both of these systems have significant disadvantages due to high consumer cost, low flexibility and increased system complexity.
Accordingly, a Home Energy Gateway (HEG), has been developed as a premise data management system that is significantly smaller, cheaper, and consumes less power, as described in U.S. application Ser. No. 12/983,425, fully incorporated herein by reference. The HEG also has the capability of operating over multiple communication networks which each use different formats, protocols, and bandwidths. This allows the HEG to acquire and manipulate (e.g. reformat) data of one communication network (e.g., that which monitors/controls the home appliances) and to supply that manipulated data to another communication network (e.g. to the consumer electronics network, such as to a home computer, smart phone, web-enabled TV, etc.), even though these networks are not generally compatible.
The data acquired, manipulated, and transmitted by the HEG is also stored in a database consisting of an organized collection of data for one or more users. The HEG comprises a single board computer configured to interact with multiple communication interfaces that may have different physical, networking, and application layers. A first interface channel may have an Ethernet and Wifi interface. The second and third interface channels may comprise two Zigbee interfaces and are provided so the HEG can talk to two separate energy networks. Using the second interface, the HEG communicates with a smart meter network, which comprises an energy-metering device, and records the data in the database of the HEG. The HEG then communicates to the devices within a home using the other Zigbee communication interface (third interface), wherein the HEG reads the consumption of the individual energy consuming devices and records it in the database.
Utility communications such as price signals, demand response signals, and text messages are received through the second interface, recorded in the database, and communicated to the devices in the home through the third interface. The command and control information of the energy consuming devices and their responses to utility signals is received through the third communication interface, recorded in the database, and communicated to the utility company via the second interface, the communication being routed through the utility smart meter. The stored events, energy data, utility messages, and consumer setting preferences are accessed through the first interface.
A database management system is a set of software programs that control the organization, storage, management, and retrieval of data in a database. A time-stamp oriented database management system allows HEG data to be stored in a particular time-sensitive order and stamped with a particular time to help organize and manage the database. If a system associated with a database does not include an internal time source, an external time source must be relied upon for time-determination. However, if a database has either not yet established, or loses, this connection with an external time source, there is no guidance as to where to place an entry in the database. Since, it may be desirable to continue to enter and store data even if the external time source is not available, there is a need for a method of storing entries in a database with a time-stamp following the restoration of power, without having to have a properly synchronized time clock.
Further, if there is a loss of power, the homeowner may desire to know which, if any appliances have been without power, and how long was the appliance(s) without power. Thus, a need exists to provide this additional information in connection with a HEM or HEG.